Chapter 651: Half Right

Zi Anxiong......

Du Gou said speechlessly: "We're all our own people here; what's the point of saying that?"

"It's just us; if it were someone else, they'd probably say you're using public office for private gain."

"Besides......" Du Gou raised a question, puzzled: "Why do you want the Money Shop to spend money buying land?"

"If this land were investigated by the government, it would likely be confiscated, and then we could take it over without spending a penny."

"Why bother using the Money Shop's funds to buy it?"

Never mind; Du Gou's question is exactly what others wanted to ask.

Because they've put in so much effort: first, to eradicate this huge tumor of temples for the Tang Dynasty; second, to use this as a catalyst to take the first step in shaking up privileged interests.

Besides, isn't it also for these benefits?

One could say that after this, the privileges of temples and monks were abolished, giving them many ways to reclaim the land owned by temples.

And as officials of the Ministry of Revenue, shouldn't these lands end up in their hands, to be allocated by them?

Why does Chen Yan insist on risking the accusation of using public office for private gain by having the Money Shop buy land?

"Sir...... any other considerations?" Kang Chong's expression turned serious.

He felt Chen Yan wouldn't do something thankless and arduous; there must be a deeper meaning they don't understand.

"Tsk."

Chen Yan stroked his chin and said: "Since we've come this far, I won't hide anything from you."

"I can tell you frankly: this time the Money Shop will not only spend money to take over a batch of temple lands, but whenever a suitable opportunity arises, it will continue to spend money to acquire more land."

"My original purpose in establishing the Money Shop was, first, to facilitate economic circulation; second, to convenience the people, benefit the populace, develop commerce; and third......"

Upon saying this, Chen Yan paused, then smiled: "Third, it's to stabilize prices, which includes grain prices."

"We all know the Tang Dynasty has gotten back on track and is now at the crucial stage of rest and recuperation."

"Since the fourth year of the Zhenguan era, grain prices have been steadily falling; up to now, at least in Chang'an City, grain prices have reached an extremely low level."

Du Gou puzzled: "Isn't that a good thing?"

"The lower the grain price, the better our Tang agriculture is developing, with abundant yields and stability everywhere, which is why grain prices are falling."

"No matter how you look at it, this is a good thing."

"Not the same." Chen Yan shook his head: "You only see the surface benefit, not the hidden harm beneath."

"Low grain prices are naturally good, but if they fall too far, they may not be good."

"Furthermore, regarding the previous Luoyang flood, what have I been paying attention to?"

Fang Yizhi pondered: "You seem unusually concerned about Luoyang's grain price hikes; to put it bluntly, you haven't shown such concern for the Luoyang flood before."

"Hmm." Chen Yan said lightly: "Given Luoyang's geography, after winter passes and spring rains come, it's not hard to understand why floods occur."

"It can even be said to be quite common."

"Over the years, Luoyang has surely experienced many such incidents; this is likely one reason why Luoyang officials don't immediately report floods when they occur."

"I had people talk carefully with refugees from Luoyang, and from them I learned that Luoyang indeed had heavy rain, and some areas' housing and buildings were affected."

"After all, Luoyang's heavy rain was only slightly heavier than last year's, affecting only a small portion of the populace, not enough to become a terrible flood like in the fourth year of the Zhenguan era."

"Floods are floods; we should pay attention, but more importantly we need to see what abnormal events occur beneath the flood."

"They are the main cause of the people fleeing."

Du Gou said: "So, Zi Anxiong, you think the cause of the grain price increase is?"

Ma Zhou said in a low voice: "If a flood occurs, the Luoyang government does nothing, and coupled with rising grain prices, it's understandable that a small portion of those affected by the flood would flee."

Fang Yizhi scratched his head, puzzled: "Wait...... weren't we just talking about Zi Anxiong having the Money Shop purchase land?"

"How did we get onto Luoyang floods and grain price hikes again?"

Chen Yan patiently replied: "Our topic hasn't strayed; I merely brought this up to tell you why I'm having the Money Shop purchase land."

"Don't interrupt, I'm asking you."

"What is the cause of the grain price increase?"

"Need you ask?" Kang Chong said without hesitation: "It's naturally because Luoyang suffered a flood, causing part of the populace to sustain serious losses."

"Whenever grain merchants encounter this situation, they inevitably think of making a fortune from the national disaster, restricting grain outflow to drive up prices."

"Good." Chen Yan nodded approvingly, then asked: "What if we had a large batch of grain, transported it to Luoyang, and sold it to the populace at normal prices?"

Du Gou mused: "Then grain prices would surely return to normal, and those unscrupulous grain merchants would end up with nothing for their efforts, perhaps even forced to sell their grain at normal prices."

"After all, once a locality suffers a natural disaster, not only do local grain merchants hike prices, but many grain merchants from elsewhere also flood in."

"These people transport grain from all over; if they keep prices high, they naturally can't sell it, and if they just ship it back, the round-trip cost would be enough to make them ache."

"It would be better to sell at normal prices, at least to offset some losses......"

The more he spoke, the brighter Du Gou's eyes became; finally he suddenly understood: "I get it, Zi Anxiong—you want the Money Shop to control a portion of land."

"Then we could hire people to plant grain ourselves, which would give many folks a way to survive and also yield a large batch of grain."

"And once we have plenty of grain in hand, we can greatly influence grain prices."

"If grain prices are too low, we'll slightly raise them to avoid harming farmers with cheap grain; if they're too high, we'll sell grain at normal prices to prevent the populace from being unable to afford it."

"Zi Anxiong, am I right?"

Du Gou was excited, thinking he had finally caught up with Chen Yan's train of thought.

But unexpectedly, Chen Yan merely nodded lightly: "Consider it half-right; this is just one important reason among others."

"Other aspects...... would be rather troublesome to explain; we'll talk about them another time."

"Besides, if we put everything on the Money Shop, its influence would expand without limit, which is bad, so the Ministry of Revenue should also do the same."

"Normally they don't interfere with each other, but at critical moments they check and balance each other."

"From now on, the lands we collect, we in the Ministry of Revenue will find people to cultivate them ourselves!"

"......"